Richard Hall Gower - Humanitarian

Humanitarian

Captain Gower was a regular contributor, mainly on nautical subjects, to the Suffolk Chronicle under the initials R. G. or “John Splice”. He expressed much concern about the cramped and squalid conditions under which Jack Tar had to work and he deplored the cruel and heartless behaviour of many captains. His concern for the plight of the labouring classes extended to that of agricultural labourers. He applauded the formation of the East Sussex Agricultural Association and, in supporting it, criticised the poor quality of local builders, comparing them very unfavourably with Italian house builders. He cited in evidence draughty walls, leaky chimneys, insecure joists and the general paucity of decoration. He inveighed against crown glass, small window panes and the window tax. He described how plate glass was made in Italy and hoped that it would soon be made in Britain also.

His last letters expressed his concern about the hardships of sailor boys, the reasons for the mutinies in the Navy and the perils of convoy. He gave a vivid description of traditional Naval punishments. He thought that these cruelties, so readily meted out to sailors just for disobedience, would be better applied to those on land who ill-treat, forge, rob and plunder the peaceable inhabitants of the country. His last article appeared on 18 May 1833 and addressed, among a number of topics, uselessness of our “colossal three-deckers”. Twelve of these at anchor may be a stately sight, but what good is it to incarcerate 10,000 seamen in them for ten to fifteen years at a time? He concluded “Our colossal Navy is merely an object of magnificence, and show of power, without opposition in the present state of Europe”. His words do have a certain resonance today.

In his last book, published posthumously, Gower reflected on the gigantic advances made in the use of iron and steam. He noted this especially on the railroads where passengers and heavy freight travelled at the extraordinary velocity of thirty miles per hour. He thought that, because of the need for large coal bunkers, 'steam paddlers' were unlikely to replace sail on long trade routes such as the trans-Atlantic crossing. He hoped that vessels of the Transit type would ply across the Ocean until “more portable means shall be invented for putting steamers in motion”. Just five years later SS Sirius and Brunel's SS Great Western crossed the Atlantic under steam power alone. Gower was correct in pointing to the need for large bunkers, the former vessel had to burn furniture and fittings to complete her record-breaking voyage, while the latter arrived a day later with 200 tons still in her bunkers.

He died, aged 65, on his estate ‘Nova Scotia’ near Ipswich in July 1833. He left a widow, two sons and three daughters whom, because of his abhorrence of public schools, he had been teaching by his own peculiar methods. He lies in a vault on the North side of the church of St Mary Stoke, Ipswich, in the company of master mariners, shipwrights and men of the sea. A stern disciplinarian, honest and guileless, Gower was “not free from the irritability of genius”. He had at heart two passions; for the improvement of sailing vessels and the betterment of the lot of the common sailor.

A Memoir about him concludes “Of him it may with truth be said that by those who knew him best, he was beloved the most; and if the motto ‘Palmam qui meruit ferat’ (Let he, who has won the palm, wear it) had been verified, the laurels that now shade others heads would have crowned the temples of Richard Hall Gower.”